The Supreme Court returns to its bench Monday with an agenda that includes cases on guns, pornography and transgender medical care, as the justices brace for a slew of last-minute election fights and a new presidential administration that could drag the court deeper into politics.

The first U.S. attorney general in history to be held in criminal and civil contempt by Congress has targeted Republican justices on the Texas Supreme Court, arguing Republicans are racist and Democrats need to be in control of redistricting.

Aside from major disputes on issues like transgender rights and guns, the docket is fairly routine. That could change fast if the presidential race is contested.

With litigation already raging nationwide, the justices face the prospect of being drawn into a polarizing showdown they might prefer to avoid.

Transgender rights, the regulation of "ghost guns" and the death penalty highlight the Supreme Court's election-season term that begins Monday, with the prospect of the court's intervention in